


your body is a weapon

by rachelisanerd



Series: shape of you [2]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, again this is just more trash people i only have one mode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 20:26:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13725348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachelisanerd/pseuds/rachelisanerd
Summary: He looks up and there’s Artemis, looking back at him with a smug grin. She dressed in a tailored navy suit and a crisp white shirt, blonde hair pulled back into a bun, and Wally’s trying to remember if he’s ever seen her outside of the gym before. They met not long after he moved to Gotham, but Wally only knows a handful of things about her: she uses the same gym as him at the same weird hours, she exclusively listens to Top 40’s music but claims pop music is overrated, and she could kick his ass if he ever gave her a reason to.Oh, and there’s the fact he’s, like, stupidly, ridiculously attracted to her. He feels like he’s in middle school again every time he tries to talk to her. Whatever comes out of his mouth is mostly utter nonsense or cheesy pickup lines.“Artemis. Hey- is this the first time I’ve seen you in a shirt?"Stuff like that....or, Artemis invites Wally to trivia night with her friends and he doesn’t know how to handle himself.





	your body is a weapon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [icanhearyouglaring](https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanhearyouglaring/gifts).



> for the lovely @icanhearyouglaring who i hear isn’t having the best week. this is part ii to i’m in love with your body which i wrote last year for valentines day, you should probably read that first. basically this is just a glorified love letter to artemis crock so i hope you guys are in the mood for some high qual trash.

There’s this little bodega about three blocks away from the precinct that no one on the force knows about with the best breakfast sandwiches Wally has ever had. The bacon is crispy, not crunchy, and the eggs are actually scrambled fresh, not yellow slabs heated up in the microwave. They’re so good that Wally is able to trick himself into being awake until his dollar coffee kicks. Dollar coffee! Central City definitely doesn’t have that.

After living in Gotham for nearly six months, adjusting to life here was still easier said than done. Objectively, he likes Gotham. Gotham has things like dollar coffees at bodegas with awesome breakfast sandwiches and a CSI division with endless opportunities and 24-hour delis. But if he’s really being honest with himself, something still feels… off. The past couple months since he moved have mostly consisted of unpacking, late nights in the lab combatting the summer spike in crime, and mind-numbing trips to the DMV. He hasn’t really done anything, nothing fun at least.

So, these breakfast sandwiches are the highlight of his day and it’s a little pathetic really. Wally knows this, and he chooses to ignore it.

“Morning, Sal,” he says to the man behind the counter when he walks into the bodega fifteen minutes before his shift on Thursday. “Two bacon, egg, and cheeses on French bread, please.” Sal nods, and repeats the order down to the cook on the line.

Wally moves to the coffee machine next to the counter and begins to fill a to-go cup. He starts humming one of those summer dance songs that are always playing on the radio. He grabs a sugar packet and drums along to the beat he’s so getting wrong.

“Wow, I never knew you were so musically inclined.”

He looks up and there’s Artemis, looking back at him with a smug grin. She dressed in a tailored navy suit and a crisp white shirt, blonde hair pulled back into a bun, and Wally’s trying to remember if he’s ever seen her outside of the gym before. They met not long after he moved to Gotham, but Wally only knows a handful of things about her: she uses the same gym as him at the same weird hours, she exclusively listens to Top 40’s music but claims pop music is overrated, and she could kick his ass if he ever gave her a reason to.

Oh, and there’s the fact he’s, like, stupidly, ridiculously attracted to her. He feels like he’s in middle school again every time he tries to talk to her. Whatever comes out of his mouth is mostly utter nonsense or cheesy pickup lines.

“Artemis. Hey- is this the first time I’ve seen you in a shirt?”

Stuff like that.

Artemis quirks an eyebrow at him, but ignores him, “Do you live around here or something?”

“Uh, no,” Wally rakes his hand through his hair, “I do CSI, so I’m down at the precinct. About to start another shift.”

“That explains the weird hours at the gym.”

He can do this, _just play it cool, Wallman_ , “Yeah, well, what’s your excuse?”

“Maybe I’m just a night person,” Artemis smirks.

Wally feels like he’s going to combust, “Will you be there tonight?

Artemis hums as she grabs one of the to-go cups, “My friends and I do trivia night at this bar on 32nd on Thursdays so no gym for me. I’ll probably try to get a quick run in on my lunch break instead.” She looks him up and down too. He realizes that this the first time she’s ever seen him out of the gym too. “We’re a man down this week- if you want to join. You seem like you could be smart when your foot isn’t in your mouth.”

Wally nods rapidly, “I can be smart.”

“Great,” she brushes in front of him to grab a lid for her coffee, “I’ll see you tonight then? At nine? The bar’s called the Hall.”

“Yeah, see you then.”

Wally watches Artemis pay for her coffee. She waves to him once more when she walks out, and it makes him feel ridiculous. He still loves his breakfast sandwiches but having something else to look forward to, that’s nice too.

…

Wally manages to leave work early enough that night to race home, shower, and throw on a clean pair of clothes before heading to the Hall to meet Artemis and her friends.

To say he was nervous was kind of an oversimplification of the situation. Besides the fact that he just really wants to kiss Artemis tonight, he could really just use some friends in Gotham. This is going to be his first chance to meet people since he moved. Most of his coworkers are either old farts who go to bed at ten every night or fresh face kids who look like one beer could send them to the hospital. Neither is exactly Wally’s ideal demographic.

He has Dick Grayson, though, in the vaguest sense of the term. Dick is… well, Dick is a dick and only socializes on his terms. He and Dick have known each other since the beginning of time, it feels like. Wally’s uncle and Dick’s adoptive father- _the_ Bruce Wayne- are old college buddies or were in the same fraternity or whatever. Wally never really paid attention, if he’s being honest.

Dick was the one who suggested that Wally even considered relocating to Gotham in the first place. He’d just been promoted to Homicide Detective and said that the CSI division could “use someone with a brain.” It wasn’t the most compelling argument, but he’d hit a wall in Central City. Things had been stagnant for too long and Wally was never the best at staying still.

So, Gotham it was and now Wally was walking into the bar with the same sort of nervousness as he did when he had a fake ID in college to see a girl that makes his palms sweat. Skirting around the mess of people directly in front of the bar, he heads over to the back tables. It doesn’t take him long to catch a glimpse of a blonde ponytail over to his right. “Artemis!”

She turns around, beer in hand, and when her eyes lock on him, her smile goes wide. She had taken off her blazer and rolled up the sleeves of her button up. It’s easy to see she's in her element here, cool and casual.

Artemis gets out of her chair and meets him halfway. “Hey!” she wraps her arm around his neck and his hands slid to her waist. “You made it,” she says when they pull apart.

“Yeah. There was no incentive to go to the gym tonight so-,” he shrugs, “Here I am.”

“I’m glad,” she grabs his hand and pulls him over to her table. “Guys, this is Wally,” Artemis says to her friends, “He’s supposed to be really smart so feel free to give him shit if he answers a question wrong.”

“Hey,” he gives a jerky wave to the group before sitting down next to Artemis. “Thanks for letting me crash.”

“This is Zatanna, Kaldur, and the lovebirds down at the end are Megan and Conner,” Artemis introduces. 

“Artemis thinks you know science stuff so really, you’re helping us out,” says the girl across from Artemis- Zatanna. She looks like she was taken out of an Old Hollywood film- long, flowing dark hair, bright blue eyes, and deep red lipstick.  “Bird Boy went AWOL, so we needed a backup resident nerd.”

“I think Dick having to attend his father’s charity fundraiser alone is enough punishment,” chastises Kaldur, who is sitting next to Zatanna, “But it is nice to meet you, Wally.”

“Shit- Dick Grayson?” Wally asks, “You guys know each other?”

Artemis nods, swallowing her sip of beer, “Yeah, I’m a prosecutor for the DA’s office- we often work the same cases.”

A hot blonde who fights for justice, can do one-armed push-ups, _and_ , might, like, be interested back? Shit, Wally thinks he might be in love.

“Hmm, Dick never told us that he had a cute, new friend in town,” says Zatanna. She rests her chin in one hand and with the other she points back and forth between him and Artemis, “But more importantly, how do you two know each other? Artemis has been holding out.”

Wally thinks he sees Artemis blush under the dim lights of the bar. Yeah, he’s totally gone.

…

Trivia was a blast.

Wally didn’t think that he would ever meet someone as competitive as him, let alone five. They won, mostly because Megan was like a walking IMBD page when it came to 80’s TV shows.

After trivia wraps up and they collect their prize, they order another round to celebrate and actually unwind. Wally takes this time to flirt with Artemis with purpose and, seemingly, she’s flirting back with him when she’s not making fun of him for how bad he is at it. In a messed-up kind of way, he’s glad he’s only meeting her now. Younger Wally definitely would not know how to handle himself around a girl like Artemis. Not that he does now, or anything, but a couple years earlier and he probably would have resorted to something along the lines of pulling on her ponytail.

At the end of the night, they share a cab back to their neighborhood across town. Wally has the cab drop off Artemis first, so he can know if she gets in safe. Realistically, he probably needs her to watch his back more than she needs any help from him. The girl teaches underprivileged, minority high school students self-defense on the weekends for Einstein’s sake. She can handle herself just fine.

The cab pulls up outside her building and Artemis collects her things.

“I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for inviting me,” he says because if he allows himself say anything else he’s going to regret it. He has a good thing going here. Even if Artemis doesn’t want more, he wants her in his life. He likes her laugh and the way she teases her friends and the way they give it right back. He felt natural there. With her.

“Me too,” she looks down at her bag, “I don’t know if I ever would have worked up the courage to invite you if I hadn’t run into outside the gym.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you were just the hot- albeit dorky guy from the gym. Every girl dreams about banging the hot guy from the gym.” She steps out of the cab and Wally is choking on his tongue. _Did she just-?_

Artemis looks back at him, “Aren’t you coming?”

Wally sputters a moment, before tossing the cabbie a twenty and scrambling out after her. All she does at laugh at him.

Yeah, Gotham isn’t so bad. Gotham has Artemis.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr! @rachelisanerd


End file.
